It’s official….‘GARAGELANDFEST’ IS COMING!
This being the FREE ENTRY two-day celebration of underground DIY grassroots music, bringing together some of the best punk rock, garage rock and hardcore bands from across the UK and beyond.
Fans can expect two days of loud guitars, sick bands, good people and the DIY spirit that Garageland promoters have always been about.
This celebration will be taking place on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th July 2026 at Daltons on Brighton Beach. This is literally a stone’s throw from Brighton Pier, and located beneath the zipwire. The festival runs from 2pm until late on both days.
In order to attend, punters need to RSVP on DICE for free tickets – Collect yours HERE.
The lineup for Saturday will feature live sets from The Restarts, AKU, Snatch, Sternums, Claw Machine, Hissy Fist, The Monday Smile, Oedipus And The Mama’s Boys, and Eton Mess.
The lineup for Sunday will witness Kitchen Lover, The Clubheads, The Breaking Hands, Mass Lines, Chinese Junk, X-Ray Love, Wet Paint, 2:19 Special, The Targets, and Vulva all doing their thing.
Let’s meet the bands……….
Saturday:
The Restarts are Kieran bass/vocals, Robin guitar/vocals and Bram drums. The Restarts formed back in 1995, in Hackney, in London’s East End. They are a socially aware, three piece punk band. Ever since the 90’s they have been gigging in and around the UK and Europe, playing squat gigs and pubs mostly. They have been to the USA and Canada three times, and hopefully again at some point. They consider themselves part of a large world wide network of DIY Punk Rock. They are punks first and musicians second. They feel the social importance of Punk Rock takes priority over the “marketability” of a rehashed trend. They stand by their words and have never stopped liking the music they listen to, live by and make (even when it wasn’t popular) Their aim is to get folk involved and help the punk scene grow independently of the music industry giants!
Aku (styled as AKU) are a stomping fast hardcore band from BN1. On 11th April they were the opening band at the ‘Homegrown Festival’ in Brighton. That day we noted that frontman Alessandro Cogolo gave out a warm welcome to the crowd, “Hello fans, happy Homegrown. Thanks for coming down”. They then got things going with ‘Aku Stomp’ from their 2025 released ‘Evil Twin’ EP. This is the first of 11 songs in a set that lasts 24 minutes. Four of those songs are from ‘Evil Twin’, five are from their debut 2024 album ‘Numbers Game’ and there are two new ones, ‘Tungsten’ and ‘Fat Kranium’. As expected, it’s an energetic and noisy set with the third song ‘I Know About You’ being the highlight for me. Aku put on a good performance and are clearly good at what they do.
Snatch have risen from the remnants of the catchy punk rock noise merchants, the Slobheads, who were a two piece punk band straight out of South-West London. In their time they offered a hard slap in the face of aggressive, tongue and cheek chants that were hard not to sing along too. Snatch, however, bill themselves as “The filthy threesome” and “the itch you can’t scratch”. They are nothing to do with the American avant-garde and punk rock duo of the same name who formed in London in 1976 by expatriates Judy Nylon and Patti Palladin.
After a break, ex-Gloo frontman Tom Harfield (vox/guitar), Ricky six (bass), and Cal (drums) are back with a vengeance as Sternums. They aren’t afraid of making their raw but catchy guitar-driven tunes sound even better with synths and danceable beats. Hailing from Brighton with roots in small-town life, these boys are making the music of the future, and you heard it here first. Be prepared to be ‘Knocked Down’ by Sternums, with their latest single of the same name.
Claw Machine are a Brighton based noise punk trio that enjoys riffs and such, or as their Bandcamp page says “Frantic thrashy noise punk, tongues in cheeks, throats ripped out”. In 2024 they released their double A-aside ‘Paranoidiac’ / ‘Gizmo’ single and they apparently feature members of other bands.
Hissy Fist are a genre-straddling political punk from Bristol, with heavy noisy riffs, ethereal bog witch harmonies and tribal drumming. Their media quotes them as “Strong of thigh, strong of fist and strong of voice! Queer, politics driven genre straddling punk!”. Last month they dropped their ‘Shiny Boots’ single which is a furious and cheeky anthem against police brutality. They wrote it because they are fed up of inhumane treatment of people at the hands of the police, time after time. It came out of some of their own experiences (including at community spaces and fundraisers) being unjustly targeted and violently dealt with. It’s claimed that Hissy Fist will be your soundtrack to rage, resistance and community building.
The Monday Smile scratch the itch you can never quite reach. Their music holds a broken mirror up to the farcical nature of society. They don’t just look behind the curtain, they burn it down. They speak to that feeling that says “there’s something not right with this world”. A band in bed with the nothing’s, the outcasts and freaks. Their live show is unapologetically visceral, they ride on the waves of chaos, sending guitars to heaven and using the stage as therapy. They are 90’s nostalgia with a twist of the modern apathetic and they are yours if you want them to be. FFO: Nirvana, Sound Garden, Silverchair.
Oedipus And The Mama’s Boys are a band from Edinburgh but all individually hailing from an unknown origin. 8 people seeking answers to a question they do not yet know, attempting to piece together vague memories of each other. Lead to one another by something borderline supernatural, they continue to make something adjacent to music while seeking answers. Oedipus And The Mama’s Boys is made up of Charlie (lead vocals/guitar), Gemima (vocals/bass), Cammy (vocals/guitar), Nye (saxophone), Hannah (trumpet/flugelhorn), Matthew (drums), Alex (violin) and Scott (synthesizer/keyboard/sample pad).
www.oedipusandthemamasboys.com
Eton Mess is a South-West Punk Rock band from the UK, known for their emotionally charged sound. Their latest single, ‘Painted,’ explores themes of disorientation and emotional detachment. With a growing following and streams exceeding 104,000, they resonate with listeners in cities like London, Bristol and Prague. ‘Fish & Chips’, a surf-licked, punk-charged anthem that turns the UK’ s most iconic dish into a full-throttle indie banger. Equal parts post-punk snarl, Britpop charm, and skate-rock fizz, the track rides jangly guitars, shout-along hooks, and a seaside sense of mischief. Think Blur after one too many on Brighton Pier, or Supergrass if they wrote about condiments.
Sunday:
Kitchen Lover’s social media refers to them as “Utensil bearing love bandits x”. Their Bandcamp page is even more intriguing…“The decade was the 1950s; The Chats & Dead Kennedys were in a thriving monogamous relationship and decided it was the right time to birth a child. Said child would then grow up to start the 50’s punk revolution, carving their sound out of raw garage riffs and poppy hooks. Conceived in the kitchen, they thought it was only right to name their child, Kitchen Lover”. Their debut long-player ‘The Circus Sideshow Dream’ dropped last September.
The Clubheads are a three piece Brighton punk rocker outfit creating havoc in their wake. Their Bandcamp page reads thus: “We are ‘The Clubheads’, a punk band based in Brighton. We started making music together as a two-piece (drums and guitar) two years ago. The local Brighton music scene took us in, and this allowed us to cement our raw, punk style. Being a part of this scene gave us the opportunity to add a bass player in the form of our lovely friend, Luke”.
The Breaking Hands aren’t the outfit that is from Texas, but they actually hail from much closer to home… Portsmouth to be precise. They are purveyors of high-voltage surge of garage rock ‘n’ roll. They deliver a masterclass in controlled chaos, and they blend the raw grit of The Stooges and MC5 with the dark melodic swagger and primal groove of The Doors.
www.instagram.com/thebreakinghands
From the West of Portsmouth, we now head East to Kent to flag up dance punks Mass Lines. Thus far they have a trio of releases to their name: double-A side single ‘Lame Apprentice, Hopeless Master’ / ‘Crisis Actor At A Casting Call’ (2021), another double a-sided single ‘Gilded Cages / ‘Curtain Call For Gwili Andre’ (2022), and 7 track cassette ‘Enlightened Age’ (2024), which came to fruition from the collective efforts of Carte D’om, Crummus Maxibon, Pablo Cornetto, Jimmy Cinnamon & Tommy Twister.
Staying outside of Sussex we hit Orpington which is a town in Greater London, and home of Chinese Junk, who are apparently the undisputed Kings of Pound Shop Rock! They feature Ben, Steve & Matt Random who are ex-members of The Ulcers, The Unreleasables and the legendary Griswalds. They give their fans cheap and nasty, snotty and infectious budget rock songs about shitty jobs, broken things, failed relationships and living in Shitsville. It’s like listening to the Ramones on Rip Off Records in broken headphones.
www.instagram.com/chinesejunkband
X-Ray Love is a female-fronted London based rock band that started out in New York City. Led by Ella Day on vocals, guitar and songwriting, their gritty, post-punk sound has drawn comparisons to such iconic acts as Blondie, Television and Patti Smith. They have received critical acclaim and have been featured in CLASH Magazine, FAME magazine, and others. The band has been picked up by hundreds of radio stations worldwide and have reached number one on Radio Indie Alliance stations in both the UK and the USA. This is a band that is known for their high energy shows. They have headlined iconic venues such as The Bitter End in New York City and played sold out shows including The O2 Academy Islington 2 in London.
Wet Paint apparently offer “Maximum Rock N Roll” but nothing else is known about this lot. When looking at research there have been quite a few bands of the same name, including from Dublin, a producer duo from Canada, and a band that dropped their ‘It Rots’ album back in 2009 and referred to themselves as “Probably the twelfth best band called Wet Paint in England”. So let’s hope that the Wet Paint on this billing are the best ones! A little bird told me that they used to be called White Lillies?
Three-piece 2:19 Special offer lo-fi, electro / garage rock / Lynch-ian weirdness, along with raw guitar fleshed out with synth electronica and live drum beats. This Falmouth based combo have been referred to as “the Cornish White Stripes” as they rip into their raw, lo-fi, buzzsaw blues with Vicky Gilbert on drums, Mark Arend on guitars and the pair sharing vocal duties. However, last year’s ‘Don’t Shake My Tree’ single has a real early Rolling Stones meets Beck sound to it that is genuinely exciting and elemental in that if you close your eyes you could imagine hearing this around a tribal camp fire as much as you could in a basement bar in Cornish hideaway.
www.instagram.com/twonineteenspecial
The Targets celebrate the spirit of Indie Punk, sharing their journey, passion, and commitment to delivering unforgettable music experiences. Their story is built on energy, connection, and the relentless pursuit of authentic sound that resonates with fans worldwide. In essence, The Targets are a Rock’n’Roll band, that’s all you need to know!
VÛLVA are a rageful 3 piece band from Hertfordshire made up of a fiery female vocal with a powerful combo on the 5 string bass and double kick drums. Interestingly they have released an 11-track album that can be found on Spotify and is called “Live At Daltons”. So this forthcoming performance isn’t their first one at this venue. Expect all femme alt metal as per their new ‘No Mercy For The Prey’ EP.
